Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1887-07-28
g THE MIND CURE
WHAT A CELEBRATED PHYSICIAN
SAID MANY YEARS AGO.

A Disease without Remedy-A Case Of
Prayer Cure-A Priests Srethods-cGr-
ing the ChoIera-NoveI Treatment by
Criticism"
ssPhvsic and Physicians, +" published in 1852.
speaking of the celebrated and extraordina-
rily successful DR.. Radcliffe. who died in
I7l4 and was the founder of the Radcliffe
library ct Oxford university, says that he
paid particular attention to the mind Il the
patient under his care, and had been heard to
saw that be attributed much Of his success
and eminence to this circumstance. There is
a very good anecdote illustrating his views
upon this subject:
"a lady Of rank consulted Radcliffe in
greet distress about her daughter, and tie
doctor began the investigation of the case ty
asking, Why, what ails herr 'Alasi doctor
replied the mother, I cannot tell; but she
has lost her humor, her looks, her stomach;
her strength consumes every day, and we are
aDprehensive that she cannot live Why do
you not marry herr said Radcliffe. 'Alasi
doctor, that we would fain do, and have
offered her as good match ss ever she could
expect Is there no other that you think
she would be content to marIyF 'Ah, doctor,
that is that troubles US: for there is a young
gentleman we doubt she loves, that her father
and / can never consent to- why, look
you, madam, replied Radcliffe gravely,
then the case is this: your daughter would
marry one man, and you would have her
marry another. In all my books find no
remedy for such disease as this"
REMARKABLE CASES.
This principle has also been employed by
certain priests and clergymen of every sect
A young woman, teacher, was, as she
believed and as her friends supposed, at the
point of death. Her physician was not quite
certain that she was as Ill as she seemed, and
requested the pastor to assist him in breaking
up her delusion that she must die He at
tempted it, but she refused to hear him, and
loaded him with messages for her friends,
and especially for her class in the Sunday
school. As he was about to bid her farewell,
be said that he would return in the afternoon;
she said that she would like him to pray with
her, but that it was useless to pray for her
recovery. Having in view her hearing what
be had to say, he prayed in such a way as to
break the spell and make her believe that she
would recover; as he did this, the morbid
symptoms of approaching death gave way,
and she is still living.
Another case was still more remarkable A
woman, i'll and bedridden, conceived a high
regard for the piety and intelligence of her
pastor. He entered her room and in a loud
and solemn voice said, 81 command you to
ariseIn Involuntarily she arose and resumed
the duties Of housekeeping, which after the
lapse of ten years she still performs
A Roman Catholic priest of high position
in his church told the writer that he thought
he had saved scores of lives by refusing to adj
minister the Sacrament of Extreme Unction,
which led the patients to say, 'Father
does not think am going to die"
A CHOLERA CURE.
In 1882, when the cholera ragged in Norfolk,
Va, DR.. Buzzell, a physician of great local
celebrity, lived there. He was driving night
and day, and on one occasion was summoned
to see stalwart negro who was apparently
in the state of collapse. Instead of beginning
at once to medicate him he accused him of
shamming, denounced and derided him in
every possible way for calling him when he
was at work night and day, driven almost to
death. Then, putting on the appearance Of
intense excitement, he procured a switch and
began to thrash the negro very severely. The
more he groaned, and the more he said he
was dying, the more Dr. Buzzell thrashed
him, and with his threatenings and beatings
brought ON such tremendous reaction that
the man recovered
In a visit to a branch of the Oneida COM
munity at Wallingford, in 1856, 1 asked Mrs.
Miller, the sister of John h Noyes, the
founder of the community, what they did if
any of the inmates became i'll, as they re-
pudiated medicines. She said they had very
little sickness 'But, have not heard of an
epidemic of diphtheria among your She
said there had been, but by their treatment
they saved every case. "What was that
treatmentY" at was treatment by criticism"
Show was it appliedg' $50 soon as q person
was taken i'll, committee was appointed
who went into the room and sat down, pay
ing no attention to the patient; they began
at once to speak about him or her, criticising
the patients peculiarities, bringing every de-
feet TO the surface, and unsparingly con-
demning it." Mrs. Miller added that no one
could endure this more than an hour. The
mental and moral irritation was SO great that
they began to perspire and invariably re-
covered. The universal efficacy of this
method may well be doubted, for many per-
sons live in such an atmosphere that if that
treatment would save them they would never
die; while others are so callous to criticism
that the remedy would be without effect
j. NJ Buckley in The Century.